steve2

I was raised a JW, being baptised at age 17, and disfellowshipped for apostasy in 1982 age 29 after trying to disassociate. This was initially the very worst - yet ultimately the absolute best experience of my life: I was forced to sink or swim and so I learned to take responsibility for my life rather than looking to authoritarian belief sysyems for answers.
I subsequently went to university, eventually earning a PhD in Psychology and Diploma in clinical psychology. I am now a registered clinical psychologist working in an adult mental-health seting in a local hospital. I live with my partner. In early September 2005, we legalised our same-sex relationship by means of New Zealand's then new Civil Union bill which had been past into government legislation in April 2005. Thus, from a legal perspective, my partner is my next of kin.
I have steered away from organised religion, although I am partial to the principles of Zen Buddhism. I find the absolutism of religious fundamentalists AND evolutionists equally off-putting. My view is, we humans just don't know what the truth is - especially in the realm of religious truths - and if we claim to know the Truth, our minds subsequently close and we invariably end up further away from the evidence in front of our eyes.